JESSIE NASH

A caver injured after a fall deep in the Kahurangi National Park was the scenario that tested the skills of an international group of cavers and emergency services.

Sixty Kiwi and six Australian cavers worked together over the weekend for the triennial New Zealand Deep Cave Search and Rescue (SAR) training exercise, co-ordinated by police and other agencies.

This year’s exercise was held at the Bulmer Cavern, which runs for 74.3km through Mount Owen – the longest in the country – and is 750 metres deep.

A major rescue took place in the late 1990s in the Bulmer cavern system after a caver fell and was injured.

The scenario at the weekend was a caver falling down a seven-metre pitch about a three-to-four hour walk into the cavern.

Cave SAR, LandSAR, NZ Police SAR and Fire and Emergency NZ teamed up to run the scenario. There was a 24-hour incident management team, a catering team and the Nelson Fire and Emergency team brought its incident command vehicle to assist with communications.

The forward base, a short walk from the entrance to the cavern, was set up to give cavers a place to refuel and recover between stints in the cavern.

Senior Constable Sarah Cook, one of the incident controllers for the exercise, said it was great having such experienced cavers and emergency services personnel come together to practice and prepare for a potential real-life event.

“We know from experience that cave rescues can present many challenges for responders, so having a cohort of trained and equipped search and rescue cavers ready to respond is vital,” she said.

“We would like to thank the local community in the Owen Valley area for their support of this exercise and their ongoing support for the cavers who come to explore Bulmer Cavern.”

Cook said while caving was an undeniably exhilarating excursion there was always going to be a risk of falls, flash flooding, injuries or cave-ins, especially for inexperienced or unprepared cavers.

“A reminder to any wannabe cavers out there to keep an eye on the weather, wear appropriate clothing and to explore with a companion.

“Despite being ready to jump into action when needed, we want cavers to enjoy the experience and be able to walk out on their own.”